mr_cooper wrote:I heard that nando is not one of the gamblers. it was only rumours, but you can never know.

Yeah, that's the firty thing about the whole affair... Everyone is now pretty much accusing everyone. Almost everyone is denying and I believe that Nando is innocent, for the simple reason that he isn't even prominent enough to be a key player in this. At the time he was hardly a starter for Hertha Berlin, so it seems unlikely that the Yugo picked him as a player with the power and influence to win or lose games for them... Nando is a newbie. I just can't believe he's involved.

Referees, goalkeepers, veteran defenders - that's the category of people you would think of, not teenage strikers with hardly any experience...

mr_cooper wrote:by the way, what with agreement between hertha and ajax? does nando will come back in the future?

They agreed that if Ajax want to buy him back, Hertha will give Ajax the right to the 'first bid'. In other words: they will first talk to Ajax, before doing business with other clubs. Sort of gentlemen's agreement.

mr_cooper wrote:but he need to get first a working aprovel. this was the problem last time

Exactly. One of the criteria to get a working permit for The Netherlands could be "considerable experience in a major European football league". If he plays for Hertha for a couple more years, he will have that experience and it might be enough for a Dutch working permit.

Ridiculous, these differences within the E.U. How can the rules for Holland and Germany be so different, apparently? Strange, but true.

Not quite right..
A player from outside the EU has to have played for the national (youth)team, or has to have proven himself in a strong competition. And I think he has to be at least 18 to get a contract (and has to be offered a salary of at least 350.000 euro)..

It's something like this, but I'm not 100% sure, so please correct me if I'm wrong..

“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.”― Neil deGrasse Tyson

Lucas wrote:Not quite right..A player from outside the EU has to have played for the national (youth)team, or has to have proven himself in a strong competition. And I think he has to be at least 18 to get a contract (and has to be offered a salary of at least 350.000 euro)..

It's something like this, but I'm not 100% sure, so please correct me if I'm wrong..

this is basically how it is, although i think you are missing some things on youth (not sure that they have to have youth NT experience), but the main point is that non-eu needs to earn at least 350k

ajaxusa wrote:Speaking of Litmanen... Read this and tell me it doesn't make you want to cry.

It's also hilariously funny, in a tragic way... I mean, he's hardly played a game of football in the past two or three years, but he somehow still manages to describe his injury as a "slight Achilles tendon problem". The guy must have a great, sarcastic sense of humour indeed...

It's almost like a Blackadder scene - World War One series. Imagine a soldier crawling around in the trenches, with one of his legs completely blown off. His captain says: "What do you think you're doing, private? We're about to attack!" Soldier answers: "Yes Sir. I seem to have a slight problem with my leg, Sir, but I'll be ready by the time you blow the whistle."

Mido made his debut today for Tottenham (what's this, his 34th team in the last 5 years?). Tottenham beat Portsmouth 3-1, and Mido scored two. Great debut, and at least for a couple days he'll be a fan favorite.

jakobg wrote:Jari Litmanen played his first match for Hansa Rostock yeasterday. He played the full 90 minutes as Rostock played 2-2 against Schalke at home, and was also selected Man Of The Match.

However, it must be added that Hansa Rostock weren't too happy with the result. They were 2-1 up and seemed to have it pocketed, but then Markus Allbäck hit someone in the face, got sent off and then Schalke equalized in stoppage time...